Forever And Always
by duke21
Summary: When a dying man protests wrongful imprisonment, the team reopen the 1998 case of a prep school student who's big reveal may have gotten him killed. 8x01
1. Chapter 1

**The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event**

_**September 9, 1998**_

_["Fly Away" – Lenny Kravitz]_

_The sound of a school bell fills the air signalling next class as everyone is caught in the ensuing stampede. In all of this, two teenage boys managed to close their lockers almost in synch._

_A heartfelt chuckle filled the air as the slightly taller and grubbier of the two spoke. Taking a hand through his shabby hair, he attempted to mat it down a bit. "Oh come on, it's not that bad Eric .'s really not all that noticeable is it?" he spoke, turning to face his friend who was caught in a laugh of his own._

_The shorter blonde haired boy held his books in one hand whilst he tried to fuss over the taller boys with a shaky hand, after prodding his glasses up his nose. "I swear, it's a wonder how you even get dressed in the morning Danny." Posing a small and short smile to his face, he cocked his head to the side a little. "It pretty much makes you look like you rolled out of a bale of hay head first" he added, bringing his hand back down to his side._

_Sticking his tongue out, he loosely held his own books under his arm. Even looking at them from a distance it was clear that there was a distinct difference between the two boys. _

_Danny was the type to stick out in a crowd without even trying, his dishelved look being something that many people could appreciate. Most of his mannerisms seemed pretty much lax for the most part, a lack of any real motivation or courage harpooning his efforts to try something different. Then you had Eric, who pretty much was the exact definition of what prim and proper should have been. Everything about him just seemed so neat to the point that there was not even a single hair out of place_

"_You know you could cut me some slack here, not all of us were trained for 'greatness.'" Danny mocked, a slight chuckle wavering over his tone. It was times like these that he really appreciated having someone as high strung as Eric as a friend. It almost seemed to serve as his own personal counterbalance. Quickly though, his mocking was replaced with a true moment of sincerity. "Who'd have thunk it though, my friend the gnius?"_

_Upon hearing Danny's words, Eric couldn't help but push his glasses further up his face, trying to compose himself if only for a single moment. "Danny, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you… I hope you know that" Eric clearly stated to the wind. It was pretty clear by now that Danny's attention had been shot elsewhere. Without hesitation, Eric shook his head at Danny and let go a little sigh._

"_You know these things work best if you actually go up and talk to her?" came the voice of a rather domineering Eric, only out to help his friend._

_Not even thinking about it, Danny craned his neck backwards to Eric. The raised eyebrow was enough to show how sceptical he was of his friend right now. Was he even serious? "Dude, you expect me to just walk up to Jasmine Chase and expect to stand a shot? What deluded reality are you living in right now" Danny joked. "She'd never go for a guy like me anyway, probably shouldn't even be here in the first place. The only reason I do is because of my brother" _

_Eric frowned if only for the briefest of moments._

_It was clear that his friend just needed some cheering up and no one was more equipped to handle that than Eric. Resting a hand on his shoulder he beamed the biggest smile he could muster in that moment. Eric pretty much owed everything to Danny just for being here in the first place; as far as friends went there was no one greater than Danny. "Well if it helps matters, we could always run a story together."_

_What followed was a mixture of a good laugh and a very awkward moment of scepticism that came from Danny. After the clear upset that painted his friends face was evident to him, he reeled it in to a soft smile. "No offence dude but with all these prep school stooges walking about the halls you have to really ask, what story could ever be uncovered here?" _

_Upon turning round again, the halls had died down quite a bit, just the last remaining students roaming the halls in an urge to get to their next class in time. "Look, I really appreciate the thought, but I gotta get kickin'… meet you for lunch?" he said, not a care in the world as he had already taken off down the hall without Eric by his side._

_Cupping his hands to his mouth to amplify his voice, the shorter boy shouted back the same words that had made their friendship work for so many years "Forever and always dude, forever and always." Turning to head in the other direction, Eric wandered down the hall, a cheesy grin still plastered on his face_

* * *

_The music fades out as the scene changes to the auditorium. The rows are empty and the lights are out, the only remnants of there being someone actually inside on the stage._

_Danny lay's bloodied on the floor of the stage as his right hand clutches onto a bottle of Adderall with the label scratched down. His other hand points to the only other thing on the stage at the moment; a chess board. A few faint breaths can be heard before nothing._

* * *

_Inside a courthouse, Eric was at his wit's end, unsure of what would unfold next for it could make or break him. Truly though he was already broken, he had lost his best friend and there was just no recovering from that. During the entire case, Eric sat with his head turned to the ground as if not daring to look up into the eyes of the people who would become his executioners._

"_Has the jury reached their verdict." The judge asked._

_The words bellowed through the room, prompting Eric to look up at the faces of the people who truly made him out to be some kind of monster. The truth of the matter was that he was anything but a monster. He was just a kid and he certainly didn't deserve this._

"_We have your honour" came the voice of a middle aged red headed woman who's look seemed so cold and glassy. "We the jury find the defendant, Eric Chambers, guilty of the murder of Danny Thompson."_

_Cries of victory arose among the crowd, but to Eric, they all felt a million miles away. The only thing he could truly make out was static, as if his ears had simply gone numb from receiving the news that people thought him to be responsible for Danny's death._

* * *

**Present Day**

The sound of a buzzer rang off as the metal gate sidled open allowing Lily Rush and Scotty Valens to enter the interrogation room, quickly closing shut again. Already waiting there for them was Eric Chambers aged by the better half of two decades. No longer was he the professional looking schoolboy that he was back then. Instead, Eric looked very sickly, a man well past his prime and looking to keel over at any minute. It was plain to see just by looking at him that there was something wrong. Despite that, the man sat there with a plain look on his face as he remained handcuffed under his own wishes.

Finally after a brief moment of silence, Eric looked up and flashed the faintest hint of a smile. "Honestly, I thought no one ever took me seriously anymore" he spoke out in a soft tone. "Seeing two of Philly's finest here right now just makes me so relieved."

Both detectives looked at each other with slight confusion filling their faces. As far as they were concerned they were here to talk about some evidence that Eric had about a case that had 'gone cold' long ago. Really though, everyone knew what the journey up here was going to bring; yet another plea of innocence from Eric Chambers. It almost seemed pathetic really. "Okay Chambers, how about we cut the crap and get to why we're here" Scotty proclaimed. Normally, they wouldn't have had to make the trip up here, but the insistence of new evidence made it really hard to ignore the desperate pleas of a guy like Chambers.

As if being signalled, Eric leaned forward in his seat. "I wanna bring up new evidence about the Danny Thompson case."

With that said, both detectives rolled their eyes in scepticism. It had almost been twenty years and it was only now that Eric had called forward new evidence? The guy was either bluffing or just extremely stupid.

"I didn't kill him" Eric stated plainly, looking back and forth amongst the two detectives, pleading to make eye contact with at least one of them. Maybe if he did they'd see what he knew to be true. "The jury got it wrong, the judge got it wrong, the lawyers got it wrong…"

"The cops get it wrong too" Lily cut in with a sharp tone to her voice. Within an instant Danny bowed his head down, quietly concentrating and trying to gather his own thoughts. "Here's the thing Eric, you've wasted the time of a lot of people to just get us here, time which you probably don't have much of."

This pill seemed especially tough for Eric to swallow as he leaned back, bringing his face up once more to meet them with a glassy gaze. Sweeping a hand through his dwindling hair, Eric struggled to force the words he wanted out of his mouth. Nodding for a quick second, he gave a stern look between the pair of detectives. "I did not kill Danny Thompson." The words rang out clear and consistent, something which the man struggled to do at the best of times these days. "The only crime I ever committed was loving him when I knew I shouldn't have" Eric stated, drumming his nimble fingers across the table separating him from the detectives.

Taking a seat down across from Eric, Lily became somewhat interested. Sure, there was no evidence to say that he had not committed the crime, but this only brought in more motives and more elements to the whole thing. Scotty struggled to grasp what he had just been told for a moment, resting his hands on his waist and giving a rather sceptical look.

"We're gonna need a lot more than that to open this case Eric" Scotty responded, not even trying to break eye contact with the man he knew to be a murderer.

With a quick sigh, Eric placed his hands on the table and began to twiddle his thumbs for a moment before looking back up. There was something he needed to say but he just wasn't ready to tell it yet. It was something he swore to never tell and to him, it was a promise made all the stronger because it was the last one that he had made with Danny.

Upon seeing the plight of Eric in this one particular moment, Lily raised a brow. "How long do you have Eric."

The bluntness of the question took Eric off-guard for only a moment. With a sweet and crooked smile plaguing his face he felt like he had no choice but to rattle of the number that rested firmly on his mind. "The doctors say I'll be lucky to make it past the month. They say I got cancer." he struggled to utter as his breathing became more laboured through a mixture of emotions and exhaustion. "I wanna go see him before I bite it, wanna visit his grave like everyone else has got to do… I just want someone to know that the real killer is out there." he rang off, a few tears flooding down his cheeks.

Leaning in to meet the gaze of someone who had earned a slight fragment of her sympathy, Lily couldn't help but utter something to Eric. "Then give us a good reason to open up a case that's closed."

Wincing at the thought of it, Eric brought his hands to his face for a moment, trying to conceal the internal battle he was having with himself. "The drugs the cops found in my locker, the duffel bag full of Adderall prescriptions."

"What about them Eric? What about the drugs?" Scotty spoke, taking a few stern steps forward. Anyone who had read the case file knew that the bag full of the same medication found on Danny when he was found dead was pretty much the main piece of evidence that they had against Eric Chambers.

Sighing deeply, he gave a saddened look towards Scotty. "He gave them to me and he promised me to never tell anyone. Even after all these years I've kept my best friends promise… does that sound like the work of some killer to you?"

The look on Scotty's face said it all. Whilst there was no proof of it, he held his own reservations of doubt in his head. Eric Chambers simply did not fit the profile of someone who would be out to kill his best friend. Maybe looking into this case wouldn't have been such a bad idea. All Eric needed was answers and some release and the detectives knew how to give that better than most.

Taking one of his trembling hands in her own, Lily looked across to Eric with a slight smile. "We'll get to the bottom of this. That we can promise."


	2. Chapter 2

Arriving back at the police department with case files and notes in hand, the detectives huddled round their desks waiting to hear what new and interesting case would befall on them today.

Without even a hint of hesitation, Stillman broke the silence that resided in the room. "Whataya got for us Lil'. Chambers have anything worthwhile?" he asked, knowing full well it must have been something if Scotty and Lily already had the case files in hand. Crossing his arms across his chest he couldn't help but to think about all of Chambers pleas of ignorance for what had happened. Quite frankly, his mind was with the evidence and in this case the evidence was good enough to lock away the culprit.

Handing over the folder with a rather off-handed demeanour, she rattled off the details of the case that she could remember. "Danny Thompson, 17 year old shot dead back in the October of '98 at Harmond Prep." The looks she got from the rest of the team were to be expected. Normally their specialty was to go through the cold jobs and solve them, not to dig up the past and throw solid cases out of the window. "Kid was shot in cold blood in his school's auditorium and was there all night before anyone even found him."

"Lil'…" Vera started, rising up a bit in his seat before sharing the same sceptical look that she herself had given when first hearing about the case. "I thought we already had someone down for this."

Not even waiting a brief moment for the silence to fall, Jeffries piped in. "We do. Eric Chambers went away for this in the autumn of '99. Cops caught the kid with a duffel bag full of the same drugs Danny had on him when he died" He stated, taking a stand and moving closer to the group. "Something make you think we got the wrong guy the first time around?"

A puzzled look crossed Lily's face. She honestly wasn't even sure why she was taking this case in the first place. Maybe it was to try and put the fears that Chamber's didn't do this to rest. Instead of really giving anything substantial for them to really go off of, all she really had were the words of a dying man who really had no reason to lie in the first place.

"We dunno…" Scotty admitted as he rested the box of evidence he had on him on the empty desk in the middle of the room. "Guy's been screaming to hell and high water that he didn't do this for the past fifteen years."

Honestly, it didn't make the detectives feel any easier about taking the case. Many killers went down saying that they had nothing to do with their victims murders but that didn't make it any less so.

Opening the file, Stillman took a look at some of the basic information to familiarise himself with the case. Looking back up over his folder at the detectives in front of him, there wasn't much he could say to them. "Best scenario, we find a killer who's been out and about while an innocent man has paid for his crimes; worst? Well we dig up some painful memories for a lot of people just to fuel this guy's ego trip."

Kat was the last person to enter the inner circle of detectives as they deliberated amongst themselves. "Okay so what's first? Talking to the victim's family?" she asked cautiously. It could never be too easy for a family to hear that the person you thought was responsible for the worst thing that had ever happened to your family might not have been responsible.

"Well Harmond Prep shut down back in '02" Jeffries rang off. It was amazing just how great a wealth of the city of Philadelphia he had. "Apparently the place had picked up a reputation for being the it school to get into in the late nineties, but they couldn't keep up with the changing times. I'm sure it shouldn't take too long to dig out some records on the people who worked there back in '98."

With that, Stillman nodded, looking towards Lily. "You and Kat go round and visit the family. We need to go back into this sensitively, last thing we need is to open a whole can of worms on this.

Lily nodded and gestured for Kat to gather her things and get ready. It was clear that the journey this case would take them on would be an exhausting one but right now the only thing Lily was concerned in was getting down to the truth of it all. Time was against them and whilst it might have seemed like a secondary objective right now, it was hard not to care.

* * *

Within the space of the next half an hour or so, they had managed to reach the Thompson residence. The house looked like it probably would have if it were owned by a young adult. The front lawn looked like it hadn't been mowed in a long time and the house was showing cracks where the paint was peeling off of the walls. It was not their place to judge on the decorating choices of the family though.

Climbing the half a dozen or so steps that stood in between them and the porch, the detectives stood side by side for a moment before giving the door a prompt knock. Hopefully if the guys back at the precinct had taken the initiative then the Thompson family would already be aware that they were coming to talk about looking into the case. Taking a firm and deep breath, Lily reached out and knocked the door, listening in to the hushed murmurs of people who were actually inside.

A few moments later, the face of a twenty-something year old brunette opened the door with a harsh smile spread across her face. It was easy to see from the similar facial features that she must have been a younger relative of Danny's, a sister or a younger cousin maybe. Before she even had a chance to speak, a taller gentleman had come in around the back of the younger girl, sharing the same unkempt hair of his younger brother.

Giving an uneasy smile, Kat opened the introductions "Hi, Jake and Amelia Thompson? We're Kat Miller and Lily Rush from Homicide, we're here to talk abou-"

Before Kat had a chance to finish, Amelia scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. "What? You're really gonna buy into the sob story that he's feeding you? That he was set up?" It was certainly clear to see that Amelia thought Eric Chambers responsible for her brother's death. Why would she not believe it, the thought had probably been ingrained in her head since her youth. "He's responsible" the girl added once more, clenching her fists tightly a little more.

What she failed to acknowledge though was the fact that the door was now opening up a little bit more with thanks to the brother. The hesitant straight-laced look on his face implied he felt somewhat differently to the whole scenario.

Taking advantage, Lily locked eyes with him. "What about you Jake, is that what you think?"

Sighing deeply, he brushed his sister to the side for a moment. "Amelia, can you just wait in the other room whilst I talk with the detectives?" Whilst she could not see the look that Amelia was giving her brother, Lily assumed it was one that was filled with anger and frustration because a few moments later the girl stormed off into another room, slamming the door behind her. Quickly after, Jake gestured the cops into his home. "Sorry about that detectives, she gets a little over the top whenever Danny comes up."

Stepping inside, both of the detectives did a quick sweep around, trying to look as subtle as possible. "It's fine Mr Thompson, you'll be surprised how often we get it in this line of work." Nothing of note really stood out. It pretty much looked like the house of a normal family; portraits hung on the walls and trophies of some sort filled the living room. Taking a quick glance, she noted the award was made out to Jake for some sort of chess tournament. Come to think of it, the more she looked around, the more trophies she found. "Still a sore issue all these years on?" Lily asked, inquisitive.

All Jake could really do was shrug. He was awkward about the whole thing it seemed. "Amelia never really got over it, but you know someone's got to pull it together" he spoke softly, a weak smile curling into his lips. "We don't usually talk about it much, ya know… sometimes I think that's for the best. Losing your parent's one year and then losing your brother the next really hit us both hard."

Both of the detectives nodded firmly before taking a few steps towards the clearly flustered Jake. It was a shame that he didn't talk about it much really. Maybe if he did then everything would turn out better.

"Now that we know what your sister thinks of him, what do you make of Eric Chambers? Do you think he did it?" Kat asked, using as soft a tone as possible.

Without hesitation, Jake laughed and met the detectives' eyes. Taking a shaky hand through his shaggy hair, he couldn't help but to mutter his own thoughts on the matter before speaking up in a clearer tone. "Eric would never hurt Danny. The two were inseparable friends. They were like each other's opposite and it worked out for them. Eric was always this bright, well-kept together kid who had this motivation in him to move forward."

Both of the detectives were quick to raise an interested eyebrow towards Jake at this point.

"So are you saying Danny wasn't all that motivated? Didn't have any enemies?" Lily asked, cocking her head gently to the side.

Another chuckle escaped Jake as he waved his arms dismissively to Lily. "My brother was never really a wolf." With that, he brought his head up and looked between the two of them. "He always had to follow on the ideas of everyone else, a bit like a sheep…"

* * *

_["Real World" – Matchbox 20]_

_The screams of a small girl reached the ears of Jake as he took out the last of the groceries from the car and started to make way for the house. It was sorta funny how in the past year everything had changed but at the same time it looked like everything was still the same. The screaming only got louder as Jake bounded up the last few steps and into the house, almost immediately snapping his head to the living room._

"_Danny... play nice" he mocked as he made his way into the kitchen, chuckling to himself gently before hearing the rushed footsteps coming from behind. There was just no stopping the kids when they were on a roll and with the new duties that he had to take up to ensure that they were kept safe, he always had to play the straight hand. _

_Surprisingly though, when Danny peeked his head into the kitchen, it wasn't to go through the bags of groceries that he had just picked up but instead he just looked intensely at Jake. Letting a short smile rise to his face he asked the only thing that really fit this type of situation. "What do you need and how much is it gonna cost." Most days he would have to say no because there was only so much he could do with a janitors pay check. He was struggling to keep himself afloat never mind himself and two other kids. They were his responsibility and he didn't want to shirk those responsibilities for a single second. He loved his siblings to death and he would do anything in his power just to make them happy._

_Sighing to himself, the younger brother propped himself up on the counter. Jake could only give a sidewards glance as he tried to put everything away before the terror that was Amelia started to come in and raid everything. For the longest time, Danny said nothing and just stared out to space in front of himself. _

"_You alright there kid?" Jake finally asked as he leaned on the counter, turning towards him. It was very unlike Danny to keep to himself about things and so it was all the more troubling for Jake that there was something obviously on his mind. Raising an eyebrow he was quick to run through the basic threats before widening his eyes. "You didn't get a girl into trouble did you?"_

_After a very brief pause, both of them broke into the same contagious laughter in almost unison. Only Thompson boys really understood the Thompson humour and it was something that had brought them closer together over these past few months._

_Finally, Danny opened his mouth to speak, no words coming out for a few moments. "Eric got a scholarship to Harmond Prep…" his voice cracked. "I'm about to lose my best friend and I'm honestly so confused as to what to make of it." Not shedding a tear, Danny boosted himself down from his position and began to lean over the counter, just like his brother._

"_Let me guess… that's what you want. You want to go to Harmond?" _

_Without skipping a beat, Danny nodded towards his brother. "That doesn't make me a bad person does it?" As if instantly knowing his answer, Danny bowed his head down._

_All Jake could really do now was be a supportive big brother to his kid brother. Rubbing his shoulder as if to comfort him, he stepped in a bit closer. "Danny, the kids that go their either have family in high places, have brains like super computers or have family who actually work there." There was just no way that something would work out for them money wise that would possibly permit them to be able to afford such a highly prestigious school. Seeing the sadness in his brothers face though, it was something he couldn't live with right now. "Okay kid, here's the deal, I'll go up tomorrow, see what I can do about getting you in to that place yeah?"_

_Biting his lip, the young boy responded with the only words that really came to his mind. "You don't have to…"_

"_Don't be such an idiot Danny. I'm your brother, it's my duty to get stuff taken care of" he offered with a smile before taking the last item out of the paper bags, revealing a box of poptarts. "I mean I might not be the best but I have my ways."_

* * *

After taking down their retrospective notes, they looked towards Jake.

Soon after, Kat flipped hers shut and asked her final round of questions "So I take it you worked something out with the principal then?" She paused briefly before beginning again. "I mean Danny ended up being enrolled in Harmond Academy before the year was out."

The smug smile that peered onto Jake's lips said it all really. "You know older siblings… we always do what's best."

With a nod of appreciation for the fact, Lily chuckled slightly. He sure seemed like the guy who would do anything he needed to make his family happy and it showed. One more question in mind before they could look for answers elsewhere remained. "Jake, do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Danny? Anyone who might have benefitted from him being dead."

Instantly Jake winced. It was hard to hear of anyone wanting his younger brother dead. Sure, it had already happened but that certainly didn't make it any less painful for him right now. Shaking his head and shrugging all the while, the only answer Jake could pull out was "No, I'm sorry… Danny was a quiet kid, kept to himself most of the time, but you never know. Maybe a few of his old classmates could tell you a little more." With that, the young man turned his back and started to head into the kitchen, indicating to the detectives that it was time to leave.

"Thanks Jake, we'll keep in touch" One of the detectives called out.

Smiling softly, Jake peeked his head out a little to say one last goodbye he uttered a soft "Please do"

* * *

Back at the police station, Kat and Lilt still hadn't returned from the Thompsons yet, something that was to probably be expected. The drive there and back should have taken enough time in itself but add on the dealing with family members and the actual going over everything just dragged that time along. Each of the detectives began to fix things together from the evidence box, trying to get a clearer picture of where everything was found and just how it related to the victim.

After a few minutes, Stillman broke the silence. "The main problem is that we can't replicate the crime scene, Harmond is now a block of high rises." With that, all of the detectives turned to face him, as if expecting him to deliver something else. As always, the older man didn't fail. "Best way to find out about this kid's high school career is probably from the principal" Stillman added, pushing the glasses further up his face before picking up another folder and skimming through it for a few seconds. "According to the case file, Leopold Chase was the enacting principal when this all went down."

Vera snickered a little to himself. "I'd be surprised if he still had a reputation after the trial was over" he managed to mutter under his breath, not taking note that Scotty was already on the computer, typing in his name and trying to find something that could possibly lead them to where he is now.

"Maybe, maybe not" Scotty shot out, somewhat surprised. "Guy's still teaching. He took a big pay drop and he lost all that privalleged lifestyle that he could afford as the principal but he's apparently a math teacher at Kilgrave Academy."

Looking between the men he still had left in the station, Stillman nodded towards Scotty before nodding at Jeffries. "I need you two to go pay a visit to the principal, see if he remembers anything out of the ordinary or someone who could have been a threat to Danny."

"Don't worry, we got this" Jeffries uttered as he fetched his coat and began to head off with Scotty.

* * *

The bell for lunch had rung and quietly, the kids had begun to pack up their stuff, met by the somewhat stern gaze of the teacher situated at the front of the classroom who seemed to be in as much of a rush as they were. Honestly, sometimes he wondered why he was even still teaching in the first place. Dropping down to a lower profession was humiliating for a man who once had it all.

As the kids piled out of the classroom, the two detectives came up to the door, waiting aside whilst all of the teenagers had evacuated, leaving the room emoty of life besides Leopold.

"Leopold Chase?" Jeffries asked.

Looking up from his position of gathering his things, Leopold looked somewhat stunned for a moment. It wasn't often he got visitors round at his classroom and from the look of the two gentlemen in front of him, it sure as hell didn't look good. "Can I help you gentlemen?" he asked as calmly as he could, hooking his satchel over his shoulder before taking a few steps closer to the pair of them.

As if on cue, both of the men pulled their badges out of their pockets, giving a quick flash. Quite frankly simply seeing the badges left Leopold a little bit stunned.

"We're with Philly Homicide. We're looking back into the death of Danny Thompson. We believe you remember." Jeffries spoke, gesturing his hands outwards as if to signify this was a gentle reminder of the death of one of his students.

Not batting an eyelid and looking between both of them. "I'm well aware of what Danny's death cost me" he spoke curtly before leaning back onto his desk a bit. "I thought Philadelphia Police already had someone away for this? Wasn't Mister Chambers found guilty of murder?" he asked, genuine curiosity filling his tone.

Looking amongst themselves for a moment, as if daring each other to speak, Scotty finally stepped forward to the plate. "We're looking into the possibility that maybe we caught the wrong guy fifteen years ago." Scotty took a short breath before continuing. "We were hoping maybe you had some insight into what Danny was like in school or maybe if you knew anyone who wanted to hurt him."

With a slight smile peering onto his face, he couldn't help but to reverse what they thought to be true. "The matter is not who wanted to hurt Danny, but who didn't want to hurt him."

Jeffries gave a questionable look at the teacher who right now wasn't giving them much to go on. "What do you mean? Was he disliked." From everything he had gathered from case files and statements, it did seem like Danny was a sweet enough kid who just so happened to get caught in the middle of something.

"Danny was a journalist at heart" he spoke, "The story was always the best part about anything for him and he just couldn't stop butting his nose into everyone's business. Add that onto the fact that he was a townie kid and pretty much every self-entitled kid in this school held a grudge against him."

Once again Jeffries took the helm and asked the question that seemed to be on both of their minds. "Can you think of someone who would want Danny out of the picture in a big way?"

For a moment the teacher thought, the memory had certainly been so many years ago, but he pulled it off the top of his head as if it had always been there. "Charles Montgomery. Pretty mean kid with a pretty mean temper to go with it" Staring down the detectives he added "Charles was never a bright kid, the only reason he was at Harmond was because his father paid his tuition fees."

"Is there a specific problem Charles had with Danny?" Scotty asked.

With a quick chuckle he stood up firmly once more. "Isn't there always?"

* * *

_["Pink" by Aerosmith]_

_Taking a walk down the hallways of Harmond, Principal Chase couldn't help but to hear a familiar sound that he had heard many times before. Once again it seemed like someone had gotten on the wrong side of Charles Montgomery. When were people going to learn that messing with the alpha dogs was just going to leave you beaten and bruised with nowhere to really go._

_Staying as close to the corner as he possibly could so as to witness everything, Chase began noting down the names of everyone who seemed to be gathered round this little circle helping Charles wail on another unfortunate bystander. Realistically he should have probably stepped in and not let it get out of hand, but he knew better than anyone that there was always a pecking order and that this was the way things had to be. You could either roll with it or go down fighting. It didn't take him long to make out the muffled cries of pain from the boy on the ground._

"_You need to show respect…" Charles said before swinging his foot in at the boy on the ground. The other boy seemed to be taking this all in very well, even doing as much as to not try to make a big scene of it all. "You need to learn your place…" Once more, the foot swung back and forward again, hitting the other boy much harder than before. "And lastly you need too…"_

_Principal Chase had seen enough of this for one day. Taking the time he needed, he rolled round the corner before the last kick could be administered. "Charles Montgomery" he spoke, everyone turning their heads immediately before scattering like the frightened little bugs that they were. Charles though met Chase's gaze with his own steely one. "My office… now."_

_Happy to comply, the younger boy gave a solid smirk as he swung his foot down one final time, making sure that he didn't miss a beat. It was pretty clear that Principal Chase had saved Danny's ass but right now it just felt like he was going to be in for more punishment soon. Honestly, he was content with lying there for a few moments more, at least in a non-moving sort of way._

"_This isn't over pipsqueak" Charles threatened, his voice as solid as ever. "Stay away from my girl… I won't warn you a second time."_

_With that Charles departed with Principal Chase, ready to receive any punishment that the old timer felt like he could give out. He knew exactly he was untouchable and maybe that's what made him so arrogantly aggressive._

* * *

For a moment the detectives stood in a stunned silence. Never mind the fact that Danny was getting bullied, but the fact that a school official only stepped in when he felt it was appropriate somehow made it all the more worse.

"So Danny tried to get it on with Charles' girl?" Scotty asked, just to reinforce the point he had in his head.

Not a moment passed before the teacher nodded his head in agreement. "Though that really didn't stop Danny. Last I heard he actually managed to get my daughter to dump that lowlife."

Both detectives looked at each other with a knowing gaze.

"So Danny gets the girl…" Scotty started.

"And Charles' gets payback" Jeffries responded, both of them quick to note it down.


	3. Chapter 3

As much as he would hate to admit it to himself, Charles Montgomery's life outside of High School had been a real flop. People often mistook him as someone who knew all the answers when the truth of the matter was that he was no more intelligent than the other guys who were working the construction yard with him. All he really had to show was some fancy high school diploma and whilst that might have been good enough for him, it severely limited Charles when it came down to what jobs he was capable at and what jobs he was incapable of. He was happy enough to work the humdrum of everyday life just as long as things would stay the same.

His eyes scanned to the left for a moment to see his manager talking with some suits over something. There was a hefty looking one who pretty much had a face that screamed unamused and the other was a pale woman who seemed to have the body language of someone who actually felt comfortable.

As his eyes drew away, he could pretty much feel the piercing look of his superior drilling into his skull for a moment. He certainly had no time to fool around today and so he just wanted to have this interview over with as soon as possible. Turning on his feels to face the detectives standing in front of him, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Can I help you?" Charles asked, a tone of disinterest being shot through to the cops. It was just another day when he had to deal with people he really had no time and patience for.

For the second time today, Lily pulled out her badge, whilst Vera simply stood there. If it wasn't obvious by who he was with then this guy must have done super well at a prep school that was highly acclaimed for academic achievement.

"I'm detective Rush and this is detective Vera. We're from Philly Homicide" Lily began. Almost instinctively, Charles screwed up his face. "We're here to talk to you about the '98 murder of Danny Thompson."

Quickly, the middle aged man looked between both of the detectives, quickly giving himself a quick chuckle. This had to be some kind of joke. Not only did they already have someone else pinned down for this, but why would a guy like him even bother with a lowlife like Danny Thompson in the first place. The kid was a brat.

Turning back and getting back to work he began to pick up his tools again. "Alllright… who sent ya? Was it Vinny? Joe? No wait… let me guess, it was Alistair."

Vera grew grumpy on hearing him rattle of names like he should know who they were. All he knew was that Charles had some answers he needed to give to them. From what he had made of the guy so far, it still looked like he was in that high school mentality where he was the king of his own fate. Nothing pissed him off more than to know of an ignorant jock who thought he was better than everyone else. Taking a step forward and grabbing his shoulder to turn him around, Vera gave the sternest look that he could ever hope to muster up. "Actually, we're not playing dress up Chuck, so you might wanna answer some questions before I throw you in lockup for being an ignorant ass."

Raising his arms in defence, Charles dropped what he was doing since the detective had made it abundantly clear that there were more pressing matters to discuss right now. "Whoah, take it easy man…" he spoke, a sense of fear in his voice as he backed up a few feet away from Vera. "I thought you guys already had someone else down for this, that's all" he spoke, looking between both of the detectives in hopes that they could offer him some sort of explanation as to what all of this was really about.

Taking the lead once again, Lily took a few steps forward. "We do, but we just wanna make sure we have the right guy away for this" she declared rather promptly. "Your principal at the time tells us you had him on the floor a few weeks prior to Danny taking a bullet." Right down to the point as always Lily was sure to say it with as much damning conviction as possible.

It seemed to work a treat as quickly Charles gave quite a fearful expression. Honestly if anyone else had been approached with the same set of circumstances they probably would have reacted the same way. The normally cool guy was now sweating buckets all because of one misunderstanding that wasn't even his fault in the first place. "Whoah now… you need to back down, that was a one-time thing"

"Yeah well your principal tells us he managed to convince your girl to break up with you" Vera stated, loosening the expression on his face to one that was less severe and more placed in a normal setting. "I mean if that were me and I'd told some dude to stay away from my girl weeks earlier, I would have gotten mad too" Vera replied, stepping up to the man's face to prove that a few inches did in fact separate them with Vera losing the battle of height.

Wait, they couldn't seriously be real about all of this. Without so much as flinching, Charles gave a good laugh to himself. For him it was the funniest thing in the world, but the two detectives just looked amongst each other with the same confused look.

"Jasmine didn't dump me, I dumped her" Charles shot back to their confused faces. "That girl was utter boredom inside and out. I mean what self-respecting chick would rather study than be seen on this? It just don't make no sense."

Lily, sensing Vera was just about ready to throw his fists in rage, continued the questioning. "So you didn't ring true on that promise."

Scoffing, Charles inched forward just a few inches. "I said I'd end him if he talked to my girl again…" he began. "…but when she wasn't my problem anymore then that white knight just bounded in guns blazing."

* * *

_["Never There" by Cake]_

_Quietly shuffling back to his locker in order to avoid the lesser knowns of the school, Charles stopped just short of his locker, before opening it and putting his bag in. Just as he was about ready to close the locker door shut, he overheard the voice of that one new kid and the other guy who had been messing with his girl. It said a lot for his own patience when he couldn't even be bothered to take note of a few names._

"_Danny, are you sure about this?" one of the boys asked. _

_From what he could make out from the tone of the guy, he genuinely sounded worried about something. As much as he wanted to feign attention to these dweebs he realised that this could be the start of something juicy. Blackmail had always been in the Montgomery's wheelhouse and Charles was no different when it came to manipulating people for having overheard something that they said._

_Taking advantage of this situation was probably made all the easier by the fact that neither boy really knew he was there in the first place. As intrusive as this was, Charles simply did not care._

_Hearing a short sigh, he heard Danny speak up. "Look Eric, you need to relax" Danny spoke, quickly closing his own locker before turning towards his best friend. "Everything's going to turn up fine, alright?" Without even needing to wait for a response, Danny spoke up again. "I mean what's the worst that could happen to me? It's Chess."_

_Charles raised an eyebrow. Was this kid trying to move in on his girl… well his ex-girl? A sly smile formed on his lips. If it would get Jasmine of off his back then all the more power to Danny. Charles knew that he wasn't interested in the girl anymore and so if she had someone else to chase after her then it might work out well for him._

"_There are better ways of going around this Danny… you need to understa-"_

_Danny couldn't help but place his hands on Eric's shoulders, just to get him to be quiet for a minute or so. "Eric, I know what I'm doing." Danny seemed to say it in a tone that seemed endearing and at the same time relaxing. It simply was no wonder why these two were good friends. Someone high strung often needed someone a bit more lax to cool them off. "It'll be sort of like an in and out kind of thing okay?" Danny reinforced. There was no reason to read too much into this, especially when Danny knew how to take it on the chin better than most people._

_A short sigh escaped Eric. "I just don't want you getting hurt. Believe it or not, I actually care for my best friend." The worry in his voice was enough to make Danny cock his head to the side slightly. "If things get messy you get out of there yeah?"_

_Danny nodded, stepping forward to get a better look at the notice board and quickly jotting down the meeting time and room for chess club, just to be safe and sure. As much as he could have relied on his memory to carry him through, there simply was no gaurentee that would be the case. "Dude, I promise I'll high tail it out if things get messy"_

"_You promise?" Eric spoke, holding out his hand. _

_There was no way Danny could resist now as he started their handshake, something that would follow both of them to the grave. "Promise dude… forever and always right?"_

_Eric simply nodded his head as both of them made their way further down the hallway out of ear-reach of Charles._

_He might not have known the full story or even what was going on, but to him the context was as clear as day and there simply was no way that he wasn't going to spread this around school like wildfire. Rumours after all were like a virus in this school._

* * *

Turning back to face his tools, he began to pick them up off the ground, a task that was not made easy by the detectives who seemed to loom down upon him. Once he gathered all his things and placed them on something closer to eye level he turned round to face the detectives again. "That might have been the last time I ever even seen that kid."

Vera seemed sceptical as he rose an inquisitive eyebrow. "Got an alibi that backs that up?" he spoke, his gruff tone only becoming more raw as the conversation loomed to t's inevitable close. He might not have been the culprit, but he sure as hell was looking for any reason to start a fight with this punk.

Thinking for a moment he nodded, "Year of 98' was my junior year. I got into a fistfight early on in the school year, parents pretty much confined me to my room for the next couple of months." he spoke. There was really no mistaking that now might have been the wrong time for one of his cocky grins, but if it pissed off Vera even more then he was more than happy to oblige. "You can speak to them yourselves if you want."

Turning his back and heading off, Vera stated the only words that even made any sense in this situation that might still instil a little fear into this little shit. "You can bet we will"

* * *

Back at the bullpen, Vera hung up the phone, a look of dismay plastering his face. He had been so sure that Charles had been lying and now that his alibi checked out, he pretty much had nothing on him. "As it turns out, our little jackass extraordinaire was where he said he was the night of the murder; at home" he fumed, quickly rising to his feet in bringing himself back to the centre of the command post in hopes that there would be something else to go off of.

Scotty sighed slightly before going through it all in his head again. "Is it just me or is nothing adding up here?" he asked to his colleagues in hopes that someone could give him a better grasp of the situation.

"We keep hearing the same things from the same people" Kat arrived. It was true; since they had reopened this case they had been given no clear motivation and at the same time, the fact that a guy like Eric would up and hurt his best friend just sounded illogical without a proper reason. "The only real person who has a bad thing to say about Eric on this case is Amelia Thompson."

"Even then, she only feels the way she feels because she needs someone to blame" Stillman added. Turning towards Scotty, he placed his hands in his pockets. "Kat, maybe you can take Scotty back to the Thompson residence. Get some outside perspective from Amelia and question her brother about Danny playing chess."

Both nodded in agreement. Chess certainly must have had something to do with this whole case, it seemed to be where every lead was taking them and right now they were running a little low on fresh leads. Maybe, just maybe, this would help to uncover some clues for the case.

* * *

Back at the Thompson residence for the second time in three days, Kat certainly knew how to talk with this family. With one family member angry and the other one remorseful over the conviction of Eric Chambers, it was easy to adapt to both of their personalities. As she rolled up with Scotty to the front door she couldn't help but turn to Scotty first before knocking. She certainly didn't know who was home but with any luck it would have been Jake, the more sympathetic of the two siblings and the one that had the best chance of giving them all the answers that they needed.

Unfortunately, fate was not on her side as once again, the brunette girl opened the door, making sure to give a quick glare to both of the detectives. It was pretty damn clear that she didn't trust them despite the fact that they had the credentials to back up their penchant for being people you could trust. For the longest time, there seemed to be a long and drawn out silence, as if Amelia was hoping that they would both just up and disappear if she greeted them with the most hostile attitude she could manage to drag up. Unfortunately, neither Scotty nor Kat were the type that backed down when the call came to it.

"Miss Thompson, we were hoping that we could speak to your brother" Kat began, trying to reel in a presence of rapport she had built with the girl just days earlier. There might not have been much there, but there was enough to let the girl open the door fully without lifting her gaze from either of them. "Thank you." Whilst manners might have been lost on this girl, Kat was still determined as hell to make sure that she was going to look like the better person in this situation.

Stepping through the door, Jake was quick to come from the kitchen into the hallway area just to see who had arrived. When he seen the familiar face of Kat, he gave a gentle nod, assuming the man standing next to her must have been another detective.

A short grin pulling to his features, he loomed for a second. "Did you find anything about Danny's killer?" he asked, hopefully optimistic that they could soon leave this chapter of their lives to rest and start anew. Amelia wasn't boding well with Danny being brought up every five seconds lately and it would do her some good to get away from all of this.

Opening their mouths, the detectives were cut off by the other girl in the room. "Yeah, did you find out that Eric Chambers is a lying piece of sh-"

"Enough!" Jake broke through. Everyone else in the room seemed to just look at him with amazement. It had been a long time since he had had to raise his voice to anyone and even then he was having regrets about it now. "Now isn't the time or the place to really give the detectives hassle on this" he spoke, his voice going back to its rather soft and gentle tone. Turning back towards the detectives, he shrugged his shoulders.

A quick look between the two was all they needed. "Actually we were hoping you could clear a few things up for us." Scotty took a few steps forward, feeling slightly over towered by the other man in the room.

With a hint of dismay in her voice Kat, turned towards Amelia. Of course she would get stuck with the brattiest of the pair. Maybe it was because she had been here before and so had something to build off of, or maybe it was down to the more likely fact that Scotty didn't feel like dealing with Amelia's attitude. "Maybe we should go into the other room, leave the detectives to talk…"

Taking the hint, both of the girls left for a side room, closing the door gently behind them so that the other two could talk all they wanted.

"We're here because we have reason to believe that Danny took an interest in Chess shortly before he died" he stated, his tone being a little severe but at the same time sympathetic. "From what I believe, you managed to win some awards for Chess yourself? Did you ever give a kid like Danny any pointers?"

Smiling to himself he beamed with proud eyes. "Yeah actually I did… it was one of the only times we really connected with something" he rang off, being wistfully carried away into his own memories. "Why do you ask? Do you think that could have something to do with this?"

Scotty frowned, placing his hands on his hips in a way that pushed his jacket back. "At the crime scene we found a chess board. Obviously since he joined chess club beforehand, we have a reason to believe that someone who was a part of that club might be responsible." He wasn't really expecting much from Jake now. Scotty had all the answers that he was going to get from someone like Jake at this point in time. He really could only hope that Kat was having some better luck.

In the other room, the tension that existed between Kat and Amelia grew thicker by the moment.

Quite honestly she wasn't out for this girl, but the way Amelia had been treating her was just not going to stand for very much longer. She got why she was angry and upset, but that didn't mean she had an excuse for being rude. The only way she could really relate with this girl was to bring her back to fond memories of her brother, wherever they rested in her head.

"You miss your brother right?" Kat started off in hopes of getting this girl to open up.

The sentiment was met with a glare and a rather fowl scowl that could have easily turned milk sour.

Rolling her eyes at Amelia, she couldn't help but to break it for a moment. "You know what, I know you're tired of all of this going on and you pretty much have every right to be, but that does not excuse you from being something I think Danny would have hated" Kat fumed as it was clear she hit a really sore spot upon seeing Amelia wince. "He needs you to talk for him because right now we're getting nowhere fast with this. Don't you think your brother deserves to know if we got the right guy?" she asked. "We are not doing this for Eric; we're doing this for Danny."

As Kat had said her piece, she turned to walk out the room hoping that something would make her stay and uncover more of the story that seemed to be hidden away.

"They were happy…" were the only words that sprung out of Amelia's mouth.

It was enough to make Kat turn back and take a seat down across from Amelia. "Who was happy Amelia?"

Amelia looked up with a rather defeated expression painting her face. "Jake and Danny… I mean all of us… we were just starting to get everything back. We were the happiest we'd been in a long time"

* * *

_["Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind]_

_The music filled the cars stereo as everyone bounced in their seats to the music. Honestly, the only one to really take note of the lyrics right now was Jake, mainly because Danny had a habit of getting lost in the music and Amelia was too young to really understand what the lyrics were really saying above the random sounds that weren't even words._

_Keeping one hand locked into place on the steering wheel, Jake turned down the radio a little. The day was drawing to an end and it all really seemed perfect. Today had just been a day of having fun and chilling out like all of them had done when their parents were still around. The normally responsible Jake had let it slip today feeling that he owed his younger siblings some actual quality time that didn't relate with him being angry at them. Readjusting his rear view mirror, he locked his eyes with Amelia's content smile for a few moments before returning both hands to the wheel and continuing their journey home._

"_Long day eh?" Danny started, feeling it was best to break the silence that existed between them first._

_For the most part Jake didn't even need to give a reply. His hearty chuckle seemed to say it all for him. Sure it had been a long day but he would do it over and over again just for this moment of bliss that he felt inside of him._

"_No, not a long day. Today should last forever" Amelia spoke out from the backseat, fidgeting slightly in her seat._

_Both of the brothers couldn't help but to laugh in unison. It was clear there was a lot on both of their minds, but neither really wanted to be the first to talk. After a few moments though, Jake proved to be the weaker in this situation. "How are things for you at school kiddo? Been putting any of my techniques to good use yet?" Jake asked, flashing the indicator before taking a left._

_Letting a smile curl to his face was all the indication that Jake needed. He nodded his head prematurely. "I'm getting somewhere with Jasmine. I mean I don't know, it just feels like things are moving perfectly right now." Danny let his head lean against the car side door before continuing. "I'm not the brightest kid there, I'm not the most courageous and I'm not the strongest…"_

"_But you got that Thompson spirit? The one unbreakable thing?" Jake replied. It was something that all of the Thompson guys had and it was something that carried both of them through the most turbulent period of both of their lives. Had they been weaker men then they weren't exactly sure of how it would all turn out. "Well there's that and the White Knight's winning moves." The cocky grin that plastered Jake's face pretty much explained how he felt about the entire situation._

"_Well of course" Danny added._

_Watching the landscape pass them by, Danny looked out of his window into a setting sun that seemed to set below their own little suburban paradise. It might not have been perfect but for Danny it was something worth fighting for._

_Jake frowned slightly when he seen the image from the corner of his eye. No kid should have ever had to go through what he did. "You miss 'em? dontcha?" The answer of course seemed obvious in his head but he just needed to ask. It was a small signal to let Danny know that he was still here for him and that he would always remain to be._

_With a soft smile, Danny turned to face his older brother. "Yeah."_

_Nodding in agreement, he pulled the car into the driveway. "Me too bud. We just gotta meet new people to make us forget about the one's we lost." It was clear Danny had someone in mind and Jake was all for his brother trying to do something new. "Maybe you should give that Jasmine girl a call eh? If you don't move in fast I might beat you to the punch" Jake spoke, all the while laughing to himself. _

_Danny couldn't help but to give a short chuckle to himself. "I might just do just that"_

* * *

Kat reached out and held the younger girls hand in her own since it was clear she just relived one of the last pure moments that she ever had with Danny. She honestly did good, gave a lot more than Kat would have ever expected of her. With a name that had spawned up a few times coming up again, it was time to check her out for real this time. In all honesty, she was grateful that Amelia could pull something out, even if it didn't make all that much sense to her when she was young all those years ago.

"Thank you" she spoke, her tone hushed as she pushed away from the table. "You've done a really great thing for this investigation."

Smiling shortly to herself, she brought her head up to meet the detectives eyes. "He was right you know. New people help us forget those we've lost." She sighed to herself. "I haven't opened up to anyone and I'm bitter, meanwhile my brother has had three marriages in the past fifteen years and he seems so collected."

Giving a weak smile, Kat made one last round for the table feeling that it was in her duties as a detective to leave here with Amelia feeling somewhat better about the whole situation.

"Some people just take longer to open up, but it looks like things are gonna change for you"

* * *

Stopping just outside the apartment door, Lily looked to Jeffries. "Are you sure we got the right place?"

Their search for Jasmine Chase had led both of the detectives to a rather poor end of Philadelphia which seemed to be filled to the brim with those who had gotten lost in the city's big world attitude. Off in the distance, as if by happenstance, a police siren came into their auditory ranges, zooming past them rather swiftly. Lily looked out of the window of the building to see a rather discarded street. The only signs of life were from those who used the shadows to their advantage. It had been a shame that they actually had work to do, otherwise there would have been a lot of explaining to do.

It just all seemed so wrong as to how Jasmine Chase ended up here. Her father had been a fairly influential person and even the school she went to was enough to ensure that she never wound up in a neighbourhood like this. Maybe her father had stopped handing out the money and something happened to cause her to drop all of her plans for the future which she was sure she had as a teenager.

"Pretty sure we are" Jeffries responded as he knocked the door. Honestly, neither of them were really sure what to expect right now. They could either be greeted with a pleasant surprise or with something that neither of them really wanted to deal with. Hearing shuffling from the other side of the door but no response, Jeffries knocked the door once more, this time adding on "Jasmine Chase? Philly Homicide…" Hopefully the girl wasn't a runner. As fun as it would be to tie up the case right here and now, neither Lily nor he had it in them to really go on a chase after someone who had a head start.

Almost instantly after hearing the booming words from behind the door, there came a response. "Homicide? Who died?"

The girl seemed hesitant to really open the door. Could it be that she had landed herself in a bit of trouble with someone that wasn't Philly P.D. Right now Lily didn't care; the only thing running through her mind was getting Jasmine Chase alone so that they could question her for any information that she might have had on the boy who had a crush on her.

"Danny Thompson? Back in '98?" Lily spoke, making sure to make her voice audible but not too much so.

Quickly after, the sound of a few bolts unlocking was heard before the door opened partially, a chain stopping it from opening fully. Not an instance of pause, both detectives reached into their jackets and lashed their badges through the small gap that Jasmine had left for both of them. Closing the door and taking off the chain, Jasmine quickly opened the door before ushering both of the detectives in.

Times sure had changed for Jasmine Chase. Where once there had been a bright and lovely looking girl, there was now someone who looked dishelved, as if they had just woken up. Her hair was a mess and the clothes she had thrown on herself were fairly ratty. Her body language seemed to indicate that she was on something as she bounced erratically around, not being able to sit still for a single moment. Right now it wasn't clear what it was she was on, but both of them were almost positive that she was high on something right now.

Closing the door quickly behind her, she bolted the door again, forcing close three or four different locks, including the chain that went over the door. Turning back towards the detectives, she stood cross armed, as if waiting for them to start explaining themselves.

Jeffries simply chuckled to himself. He had dealt with enough addicts in his time and he certainly could go without dealing with another one, but in this case he simply was going to have to make an exception for the greater good. "We're not here for anything besides looking into Danny's death."

As if by some trigger phrase, the girl cooled off a bit, sighing before dropping her arms to her sides and gently rubbing them as if to get some semblance of feeling back. Giving a subtle look, she brought her eyes to meet those of the female detective. "Isn't that what Eric is in jail for?" she questioned. "I mean you guys said it yourselves that he did it."

Lily pushed her tongue to the side of her cheek for a moment. "We're just making sure we didn't miss anything the first time round" she replied, trying her best to not appear intimidating which was slightly easy considering who the other detective in the room was. "Can you tell us of your relationship with Danny?"

Like a startled deer in headlights, Jasmine gave an expression that pretty much revealed her shock. "How the hell do you guys know?"

"We have word from your dad, your ex and Danny's little sister that he had plans of talking to you at one point" Jeffries spoke. "It's not like you could escape him though, what with him taking up Chess to pursue you. I mean some might find it persistent, eh Lil'?" he shot towards his partner, hoping that she would roll with the ball for him.

Lily shook her head on cue. "Sure, some might find it persistent, but there comes a time when no just means no" Lily added. With a quick frown, Jasmine bit her tongue. She didn't want to lose her cool but she was so close to the edge right now. "Maybe it bothered him that you wouldn't be his. That's when he came at you after school and you shot him…"

"No! That's not what happened…"

Both detectives paused, arching their eyebrows at Jasmine.

"He cared for me more than anyone I've ever met" she spoke. "He made me feel special at a time when I was so lost in the world"

* * *

_["Shimmer" by Fuel]_

_"And that's Checkmate Danny" Jasmine spoke up as she moved her rook into place, quickly pinning his king into the back left corner._

_Despite how much he had learned about the game in the past couple of weeks, he could never really do enough to beat Jasmine. The techniques that his brother had showed him just seemed to fall short when playing against someone like Jasmine. Then again, the whole idea of staying two steps ahead meant you had to have the courage to follow through with what it was that you wanted. Danny was never the follow through type, always changing his plan at the last minute in feeling it would turn out better for him this way._

_A chuckle escaped Danny as he observed the board, just to make sure. "I swear, you just get a rise from beating my butt, dontcha?" he spoke, sticking his tongue out towards her._

_Instantly the girl blushed and shied her face away. It was amazing to Danny how she could even be so shy in the first place. Observing from afar made her look so perfect, but now that he had gotten a closer look, he could say that perfection didn't come close to describing this girl. The girl he had only known for a few months was now the thing that occupied every other empty thought._

_"You'll get the hang of it Danny, and when you do I'm pretty sure you could beat me." It was amazing just how humble she could be. Other people here would have been quick to rub it in his face and he expected it from her the most what with who her dad was. Yet despite that, she remained rather humble._

_With a slight smile snaking its way onto his lips, he leaned forward towards her slightly. "This isn't one of those deals where you let me win is it? I mean if it is that would make you so awesome." Danny began to set the pieces back up the way that they would have been to normally set up a match. Halfway through resetting the board, he looked up only to greet Jasmine with a soft smile. "I've really appreciated these past couple of days. I never thought things would be this good."_

_The context could have been taken any way, but it was certain that both of them had taken it the same way. Letting her hand stray, she let it land on Danny's for a short moment, forcing him to look up and meet her own smile with his own. For a moment it was bliss, but after that moment Jasmine felt awkward, quickly reeling her hand back in. "I should go…" she whispered as she fetched her bag._

_No. This was what Danny had been waiting for. He needed this so much more than he ever thought he did. Quickly rising to his feet, he made his way over to her bag, trying to coerce her to stay just for a little while longer. As he bumped into the bag though, through the small opening that was left, something rolled out and into view. Danny almost didn't want to look in fear of knowing what it was. The minute he let his eyes fall on that bottle of Adderall then he knew that things could never be the same. He knew that perfection would be not worth the chase any more. Instead, Danny grasped her hand._

_It was clear that in this moment Jasmine was torn. On the one hand she could have just reached out for the bottle. It offered her so much comfort. It made her work and it made her the best. It made her father proud of her and to Jasmine, that seemed to be the most important thing. Trying to pull away and reach the bottle, she was met by a lot of resistance._

_"Don't" Danny spoke. His words seemed stern and filled with as much courage as he could possibly muster._

_"But I need it…" she protested, only trying harder to grab the bottle which was just a little bit out of reach. She got that it was a mistake but why couldn't he let it be her mistake. "Danny…"_

_Hearing her soft voice call for him, he turned to face her. "Please don't do this. It's wrong. And if you're wrong then I never wanna be right. And if I'm not right that makes me the wrong choice for you" he said, pulling her in a bit and leaning his forehead against hers. "Just let go…"_

_Before the girl could even respond to his rather grand gesture, another sound broke the silence. The sound of a slow clap surely filled the air, the auditorium doing its best to let the sounds ripple through the room and just fill it with the sound of someone's annoyed frustrations. "And here I thought that this wouldn't happen."_

_Breaking the closeness, Danny looked round the room to see his best friend with a furious look on his face. Danny winced. He had done the worst possible thing at the worst possible moment. Bringing his hand to his face he neared the edge of the stage, trying to get closer to his friend for no other reason than to read the expressions on his face more vividly._

_"Dude, you weren't supposed to be he-"_

_"Save it Danny." The look on Eric's face. Clearly this moment had broken him. Jasmine might have not known it, but she had stepped into a real world filled with real consequences. For Eric, it was so much more than Danny moving on from his best friend. "You want somebody to love? You got it? I'm done dealing with this" Eric stated as he turned and walked back out of the room._

_Danny hopped from the stage and began to pursue an angry Eric. Right now though it was the worst thing he could have done. "Stay away from me. I've had enough" Eric spoke with conviction as he reached the doors. "Enjoy whatever time you have with the tramp cause as far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me."_

_After that, no more words were exchanged._

_The only sound that remained was the sound of Jasmine picking up the bottle, her bag and bolting it out of the auditorium before Danny had a chance to catch her._

* * *

"Sunova…" Lily spoke, wanting to curse herself. How could she have ever believed the words of a convicted killer over reason? For her, this was the ultimate betrayal.

Jeffries looked at her, giving her a sympathetic look before turning back towards Jasmine. "Thanks for clearing a few things up for us" he spoke, nodding in an appreciative gesture, before pulling Lily off to the side. "Try not to lose it Lil'"

"I had him, he made me believe he was innocent" Lily spoke through gritted teeth.

"Well then, maybe it's about time we wrapped this one up and let Eric rot the last few days behind bars."


	4. Chapter 4

"You're dead to me… not exactly the cleanest words best friends could say to each other" Lily spoke, the harshness in her voice gliding through and cutting through the gentle confusion that rested on Eric's face. "But at least we have our motive for why you wanted Danny dead."

These past few days had been hell for Eric what with all of the preparations and the pain of it all nearly washing over him and forcing him to kick it on the spot. The last thing he wanted to do was give up, but it was clear that the words the detective had just uttered made him want to call it quits on the whole damn thing. Where once there was someone who was curious to find out what happened to their best friend was now just a sunken faced man on the verge of calling it quits. It had taken so long for people to believe him, so why should he have fought for his freedom.

Crossing both of his arms on the table he remained tight-lipped for the time being, something that only appeared to piss Scotty off. This guy had just wasted all of their time running through hoops so he could feel better about himself.

Coming in close and squatting down to his eye level, Scotty gave him the same barbaric look that he generally gave everyone who was about to be on the receiving end of his fist. "What was the point behind this entire scenario of yours, Chambers? To prove that we'd buy into your stupid game? To get back at the people who'd put you away."

Silence remained. Lily could see Scotty on the verge of losing it and so instead of letting the man go ahead with what he felt was proper justice, she decided to cut in and try and guilt the answer out of him. "I think we all know why Eric was doing this. Getting our attention was the only way he could ever let us know" Lily spoke, skirting around Scotty and tapping him as a signal to play along with what she had.

Not even taking his eyes of Eric, who was now looking back at Scotty with the same depressed and sunken eyes as before, Scotty replied "Let us know what Lil'."

Nodding to herself she took a seat down opposite of Eric, who glanced at her for only a moment before looking back into Scotty's eyes once more. "To let us know that he never truly cared about Danny. I mean what kind of friend would even do that?" she spoke, her tone increasing in confidence and just getting louder. In Eric's ear though, what Lily had said had probably been the most piercing thing he had ever heard in a long time. He struggled not to speak up because if he did he'd only be digging himself deeper. "It's sort of pathetic to think you chased after him all these years and the only way you could get over him was to make sure he couldn't mess around with your heart."

Beating the table a bit to make an audible noise, Eric looked between both of the detectives. This was not what he wanted; in fact this was the farthest thing from what he wanted. A long time ago he had accepted his fate as a friend and he knew he was always going to be just that to Danny. "You don't understand detectives" he spoke, his voice rather feeble in comparison to the detectives in the room. All they really cared about was the answers, answers which Eric was keeping rather close to his chest.

"Of course we don't understand Eric, you haven't given us any reason to believe you except for a lot of hearsay" Scotty spoke, clearly still pissed as his temper grew hotter by the second. At this rate it wouldn't take it too long for it to blow. "There's a reason you went down for this fifteen years ago."

Drumming his fingers along the desk for a moment, Eric lifted his head.

"What more do you want from me? What do I have to say to convince you that I am not Danny's killer" Eric spoke up, his voice breaking up a bit as he struggled to keep it all contained inside of him.

Lily felt herself lean into the desk on an impulse with the same stern look she had given hardened criminals in the past. "Nothing. You held back on the story when it mattered so why the hell should we take a chance on believing a guy like you" Lily snapped, Scotty looking back at her with a concerned look painted on her face. It'd been a while since he'd seen her like this, but then again this was always the side of Lily that got the answers she needed.

"The drugs were yours, the gun you probably tossed was yours, you have the motive and you had the opportunity" Lily busted out, counting off the things on her hand before driving the point home. "You killed Danny because you couldn't face the fact that he could never look at you the way you looked at him."

Finally Eric slammed the table with as much strength as he could muster, all the while shouting "I did not kill Danny Thompson!" as loud as he could, which even then was kind of weak. A few tears started to roll out of his eyes as he repeated himself. "I did not kill Danny Thompson."

"Then explain it to us Eric. Tell us how a grade A student like you gets busted with Adderall in your locker just hours after Danny bit the bullet. Tell us why this is all so hard for you to even bring to us now. Maybe then we could actually look at this case like it's not you trying to tell lie after lie" Scotty spoke, his patience at the verge of breaking.

Thinking for a moment, Eric twiddled his thumbs a bit, just momentarily thinking of how much was still left unsaid between the best friends. "Back in high school me and Danny always did these stories. We worked for the school newspaper; it was something I had always seen as fun, but it was something Danny got really invested in…" he stopped for a moment.

"And what Eric?" Lily asked, curiosity biting at her.

"No one ever suspected that there was a problem with Harmonds. We all thought it was a nice enough place, but the cracks showed up within the first couple of weeks. Kids were being supplied Adderall to boost their grades so that Harmonds would get more money pumped into the school. Danny found out and went undercover for the sake of the story." With a smile, Eric stared at the ceiling for a few moments. "We hadn't spoken since the argument in the auditorium but the day before Danny was found… like that… he told me he'd been working on finding out the truth and he managed to uncover something big, something I think might have gotten him killed."

* * *

_["What it's Like" by Everlast]_

_Danny walked down the hallways of Harmond with two duffel bags, one hoisted over each shoulder. The look on his face never wavered away from a mixture of fear and anxiety. He had fucked up royally this time and there was nothing he could do about it but ask for help. There was just nowhere else he could go right now. Stopping short of his locker, he looked across to where Eric should have been and sure enough, there he was, fetching things from his locker for next class._

"_Eric, come on man, we need to talk about this" he started, the clear compassion coming off of his voice. Never in a million years had he ever wanted to hurt his friend, but it was clear that something had gotten wedged in between the pair of them. _

_Ever since the whole incident in the auditorium, both of the boys had been avoiding each other; Eric because he was pissed at Danny and Danny because he thought Eric just needed some space. He never even considered the concept that his best friend could have had feelings for him and yet here they were, stuck at a crossroads because neither of them could bring themselves to say anything._

_Eric remained silent, carrying on with what he was doing. Shoving some books forcefully into his backpack for next class he grunted a little, a clear sign that he was still upset with Danny right now._

_Rolling his eyes, he skirted around the locker so that he could actually see his best friends face. With a stern look haunting his expression it was just so damn clear that this wasn't something that could have been repaired easily with a few words and a mutual understanding between the boys. For the longest time Danny just stood there, in high hopes that at some point Eric would turn and face him to give him at least some shred of hope._

_After a few moments though, Danny realised that Eric had just been idly shuffling things around in his locker, as if trying to stall time somewhat. Taking the initiative, Danny dropped both of the bags on the ground at his feet before placing his hand on Eric's shoulder._

"_You remember back in Elementary School…?" Danny asked, beginning to reflect on the good times they had shared. "The first day we ever met was the second day of first grade because I remember I was too scared to even go in on the first day. Not that really the second day was any better for me, people had already made their friends…" Danny continued, sighing a little desperately to himself now. Those things they had done seemed so long ago now and he even wondered if he could actually remember any of this. "I remember it so vividly; you were the first person to actually talk to me whilst I was stuck in my own head, worrying about everything. Back then you said that we were going to be best friends for forever and for always."_

_As if struck by the words, Eric let go of the books in his hand, causing a loud clash against the metal of the locker. An unsure frown replaced the one he had planted on his face that seemed so stern before. In this moment, Eric was struggling to do anything but breath; it was as if his whole body had tightened up to the point where it was just an impossible feat to turn to meet Danny's familiar gaze._

"_Come on man, we've been friends for forever. Nothing has changed and nothing will ever change"_

_The mood changed drastically in Eric as he slammed his locker door shut and turned to face Danny, anger being the clear expression on him right now. "Maybe that's the problem Danny. Did you ever think that?" Eric near-enough shouted. The hallways were practically empty right now considering it was still Lunch hour and not many students wanted to be cramped in the halls during one of the only slivers of freedom they had during the school day. "It's not easy you know. I was there for you when all of this shit went down. Even when I was leaving you behind I was there for you to the point that you followed me here. Did you ever stop to consider that I needed you not to be here?" Eric blasted, his voice growing louder with each passing second. It wasn't often you seen Eric in such a state; usually he had efficient ways of dealing with his own rage._

_Danny offered an unsure smile to Eric, but judging from the look on his face that only made things all the more worse. "You look at me like that and I can't help but to feel for you. I can't stop myself loving you and that makes me angry, it makes me so mad to know the only person I care about sees me as his friend." _

_With a slow nod, it seemed like Danny finally understood as he took a few steps forward and wrapped his arm around his friends shoulder. It might not have been the best way to deal with all of this, but it was something that Danny could do because he was so comfortable with it all. "Look, I'm not sure what this means for us, but I don't want it to get in the way of what we have man… we can move past this, together" The words came out so fluidly, so quickly that Danny knew that they might have sounded less tact than he had originally intended them to be. "I just need my best friend."_

_Eric sniffed once, trying to contain himself before turning towards Danny. There was no denying that there were a lot of hard times ahead for both of them, but Danny always made it seem easy for the pair of them. Nodding he finally spoke once more, a smile covering his face. "Well if that's the case, I forgive you…" he said, his hushed voice only booming wildly with the joking tone of it all. _

_Looking down, Eric spotted the two bags, before raising a sceptical eyebrow. "What's in the ba-"_

"_It's not important" Danny interrupted. "What is important is that I need you to keep one of these for me. I can take care of the other one no problem at all, but you have to take this for me. No questions asked.."_

_Alright, it was safe to say that Danny was now scaring Eric just a little bit. What the hell kind of trouble had he gotten himself into. They hadn't been talking for the better part of a few days so there really was no telling what the hell Danny had managed to do. Did this have something to do with the story? If it did, then why did he need to carry it around in duffel bags._

_Pulling his shaky hand through his blond hair the boy replied sharply. "I dunno Danny." Lifting one of the bags and inspecting it for a moment, he was able to tell it was a lot of little things from the way they moved in the bag. "What is all of thi-"_

"_No questions asked" he repeated for good measure before lifting the other bag. "I swear to you it'll all make sense tomorrow, but for now I need you to not tell anyone about this. Not the teachers. Not the cops. No one."_

"_You're worrying me a little bit here Danny…" _

"_If everything goes to plan, which it should then I'll tell you everything once it's all over. Right now though I just need you to trust me… can you do that?" Danny asked, it being fairly clear that he needed Eric for this all to go down._

_Without even skipping a beat, the other boy smiled at him and said "You can count on me man"_

* * *

The words that had just arose from Eric's mouth seemed to put the whole room in a standstill. It didn't take a detective to know what was in the bags and it also didn't take a detective to be sceptical of the entire story. This was the last thing they really had to go on. If this was wasted then they would have been nowhere, so you could see why both of the detectives struggled to take this in.

Eric shrugged. "That was the last time I ever saw Danny. I never got to find out what he had. All these years I'm just left with all of these questions in my mind and no one could answer them for me."

"Because everyone already thought you were guilty…" Scotty added, folding his arms across his chest whilst giving a more sympathetic look to Eric. He had already played them for idiots once before, you could bet your bottom dollar that Scotty wasn't letting anything like that happen ever again.

Smiling weakly, he nodded towards the detectives.

"You know more than I do about this entire thing. I can only hope now that you manage to find some justice."

* * *

The bullpen was bustling with the news that Scotty and Lily were coming back empty handed. The defeated expressions in the room seemed to say it all. Pretty much every lead they chased up ran dry quickly. The pills were manufactured and sent out to factories all across Philly so that didn't help. There was never any gun found and so ballistics evidence was out of the question until they actually had a bullet to compare it too. It wasn't often that the team thought about the admittance of defeat but there was a reason this case was so open and shut so many years ago; there just wasn't enough evidence or motive to go after anyone else.

Coming into view, both Lily and Scotty shared their look of dismay with the other detectives. They all looked back with the same expression.

"So what do we do now?" asked Kat, breaking the silence. Within an instant everyone turned to her as if expecting her to say something else. When that something else did not come, Stillman took to the plate.

Picking up the file on Danny Thompson he nudged the edge of it against the table, as if to get the attention of his detectives. "We do what we always do. We got back, we take a look at evidence, we take a look at witness accounts. Somewhere along the line someone has slipped up." Stillman knew that the end was close, he could just feel it. All he really needed to do was lead his team to the end. "Nick, you and Jeffries see what you can come up with on the gun. Anything about it will give us a clue. Kat, I need you to backtrack everything that's been said up to this point. Lily, Scotty, see what you can do about uncovering something new, doesn't really matter how big it is"

Nodding amongst themselves the detectives broke off, each assigning themselves to their designated roles. Before Lily and Scotty even had a chance to go to their desks, they spotted someone over at the waiting area.

With the same dishelved look as before, it was clear to see that Jasmine Chase clearly was someone who was in need of some help. Jeffries couldn't help but roll his eyes some as he caught a glimpse of her still bouncing around somewhat. To him it just looked like a junkie in need of her next fix, and maybe he was right about that, but it didn't stop Lily from going over. She was obviously here for a reason. Maybe she had some light to shed on the case.

"Jasmine…?" Lily asked, the burnt out woman twisting her head suddenly to the direction of Lily's voice. A soft smile cracked on her face as she recognised the familiar voice.

Taking a step forward towards the woman she held out her shaking hand, biting the nails on her other. With as much grace and compassion as she could ever hope to hold out for someone like Jasmine, she took the fragile woman's hand in her own and gave a firm handshake. "Hi… I mean… yes I'm here… cause… I mean…" The girl was more than dishelved in appearance. Obviously there was something going on.

"What is it Jasmine, maybe we can help you…" Lily asked. "Do you know something about what happened to Danny?"

Jasmine shrugged as she was led to a seat, taking a much needed breather right now. "Back then I was always so in my own head. I started taking the stuff to make my dad proud, to make him want me for once in my life…" she burst out, looking on the verge of a natural disaster right now as she rocked back and forth slightly. "It made me lose my mind. Half the stuff I remember I'm not sure if I remember because it's real or if it's something I've made up" Jasmine spoke, her voice so soft that only Lily, who was seated opposite her, could make it out "After he died I had nothing except all these jumbled memories of him. I couldn't cope with that loss. I lost myself along the way and I hate what I've become, but I don't know the way back."

"And now you think one of these jumbled memories might give us something to work with?" Lily asked.

Without so much as hesitating, Jasmine pulled out her phone. It was impressive as all hell in Scotty's eyes how she could even afford something like this. Quickly, Jasmine scrolled through a couple of menu's before playing an audio file, placing the phone down on the desk.

"_Jasmine, this is your father. I'm not sure if they've gotten to you yet but the detectives are looking at Danny's old case. I need to remind you that we are family. We'll always be family. Promise me you won't tell too much._" With that, the message died out, but it was pretty clear that Leopold had not told them everything that they needed to know. All this time later he was still looking out for number one and was quick to throw everyone else under the bus.

Lily had a follow up question though. "What does he mean? Do you have something that you need to tell us?"

Frowning, the girl sank back in her seat, thinking the repercussions over for a few moments. "I saw Danny a couple of hours before he wound up dead in the auditorium. At least… I think I did."

* * *

_["Given to Fly" by Pearl Jam]_

_Jasmine sat on her room, books scattered all around the room. It was clear even in this time that Jasmine was someone who was clustered when it came to her thoughts. The girl lacked focus, at least that's what her dad would always say to her. Maybe that's why she was so disillusioned with reality right now. The constant beat downs of everyone around her made her feel rather pathetic. The only guy who truly believed in her was someone she let down time and time again. When it came down to it, Jasmine was more receptive to her father's attention than Danny's positive influence on her._

_She thanked that he was there and actually trying his best, but she would always be there to let him down. He needed something stable, something that didn't require maintenance. The guy seemed like the type who would run at the first sign of trouble and that's all she was in her own head. _

_She chewed on the edge of her pencil as she scanned through her biology textbook. It all just seemed like words to her right now. The girl hadn't even slept in close to a day and a half. It was a miracle that she was actually managing to fully support her head right now, though she had a feeling the soda was helping keep her alert for a bit longer._

_With a knock on the door interrupting her thought process, she turned to face it. Standing in the doorway were two figures; one who she constantly sought attention off of and one who constantly sought attention from her. Taking the lead, her father came into the room first, daring not to speak in any other tone but the one he had used around his students for all these years. "Jasmine, this young man here showed up at our doorstop looking for you. Is there something I need to know" Leopold Chase asked, his same hi-brow attitude sweeping across._

_Smiling softly to herself she shared a knowing look with Danny before turning back to face her father. "It's nothing daddy, it's just some stupid history project" she made up, knowing full well that her father trusted enough to buy into any lie that she passed off._

_Knowing when to take his bow out, Leopold Chase left the room muttering something along the lines of "Have fun you two." To Danny he seemed like the perfect kind of dad, but he knew that could hardly be the case if Jasmine was in the state that she was in. Even if she had gotten herself into this situation on her own, nothing he did made her want to stop._

_Coming into the room he closed the door quietly before dropping a lone duffel bag on the floor. Without an inch of hesitation he crossed the room to her and gave a light smile, one that seemed to say that he was sorry for being such a douche._

_Without even saying that though, Jasmine could tell how he really felt. "It's okay Danny… I made my bed."_

_Frowning to himself, he took a seat down on the foot of her bed, clutching his own hands and wondering what he should do. There was just so much all up in the air at the moment and he knew the last thing he could really do was get out of this without a little bit of blood on his back. "Do you trust me?" Danny finally spoke after a long period of silence._

"_Danny, what's all of this about?" Jasmine spoke, moving closer to him._

_Stressed to the point of wanting to burst, Danny sprang up from his position on the bed, clasping his hands behind his head. Swallowing hard he looked back at her. "I realise I fucked up beyond all recognition…" Danny started, walking over to the bag and slowly unzipping it. "But I don't even know how the hell I'm going to get out of this…" Lifting the flap he showed the contents to Jasmine who just stared for a moment before meeting the gaze of Danny, and then back to the duffel bag._

_There must have been easily one hundred bottles or so of Adderall just messily tucked away in the bag. "Is this some kind of joke" Jasmine asked, her voice hushed._

"_What…!?" Danny reflected, raising his arms up promptly to defend himself. "No look, these drugs… they belong to someone else" Danny started, feeling himself get more flustered by the second. "What do you do when you want to do the right thing but the right thing could ruin someone?" he finally asked._

_Walking up to Danny and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder she softly spoke. "You do what's best for you. What you think is the right thing is probably always gonna be the right thing…" Taking the opportunity, the girl planted a soft kiss on Danny's lips, causing him to sink a little bit. This was honestly the last thing he had anticipated on but now he was kind of glad that he had come here in the first place._

"_That was… wow….." _

_Jasmine offered a hearty smile before turning back to the bag. "Are you going to tell me what's got you so upset?"_

_For a few moments he considered the answer. "Morality. That's what's got me. If I weren't so chicken I'd probably have my answer right now." Knocking his hand on the wall he quickly picked up the bag. "I need to know that I can trust you to take this. And I need you to trust me to not tell anyone else about this. No one can find out about this bag or what's in it…"_

_Jasmine paused for a moment, taking it all in. For a while it seemed like she was unsure, but afterwards she gave a quick nod. "Alright, I'll do it"_

_Grinning to himself, Danny turned to face the door. "That's awesome, I promise, you won't have to keep it for long. I'll come and get it tomorrow and explain everything then. Right now though there's just one last thing I really have to do…"_

_Before she even had a chance to say goodbye, the bag had been dropped on her bed and he had slunk out of the room._

"_Good luck…" she muttered under her breath._

* * *

All at once it seemed like the pieces were coming together. The other bag that Eric was speaking about now had an owner and it was clear that there was someone else who seen Danny last. Whilst Eric was not entirely out of the woods yet, he was safe as far as the detectives were concerned.

"Do you still have that bag?" Lily wondered. It was the closest thing to evidence that they had at the moment.

Jasmine looked around the room and gave a little bit of a shrug. "That's the thing; I was so sure that this happened, that I placed the bag in my closet, but when I woke up the next day…" she trailed off, figuring the detectives could work out the rest from her expressions alone. There went that line of thought. Now they were back at square one again… unless….

"Your dad? You think he might be responsible for this?"

She paused for a moment. Clutching her hands and steadily rocking more with each passing second she gave another gentle shrug. "I didn't think he was capable of it" she spoke. "But that message… I've never heard him sound so angry or worried in my life."


	5. Chapter 5

With Scotty and Stillman on one side of the glass, it became evident that this case was beginning to wrap up. There were a few loose ends but from what they could see that should all come to a close soon.

Planted behind the glass pane, they looked on to see a rather cool and collected Leopold Chase. If smugness ever had a look, it would have been the one that the man was quietly beaming to himself. Despite being dragged into the station, Leopold Chase just sat there, twiddling his thumbs as if he had done nothing wrong. To say he had put up any resistance at all would have been a complete lie; it was just plain to see that Leopold had been holding something back.

Both Scotty and Stillman shared an exasperated look that seemed to say it all. "What do you make of this boss? Do you seriously think a guy like Leopold Chase would do something like this?" he asked, a sense of urgency in his voice. It befuddled Scotty as to how Leopold still had a career of any sort after what had happened at Harmond. Then again, he was the type of guy who could probably talk his way out of a paper bag.

Instead of giving a response, Stillman leaned in and pressed a button, playing the recording over the intercom.

"_Jasmine, this is your father. I'm not sure if they've gotten to you yet but the detectives are looking at Danny's old case. I need to remind you that we are family. We'll always be family."_

The recording stopped just short of Nick and Kat showing up into the room to confront Chase who clearly had not been rattled by hearing his own voice being played to him. Like always, he remained stoic, even when the odds were stacked up against him. Within an instant he turned towards the two detectives who had entered the room and beamed a smile towards both of them.

"I see you've met my daughter." Drumming his hands along the table to his own beat, he let his eyes fly between the two detectives for a moment. "Bit of a problem child that one. I do hope she behaved herself for Philadelphia's finest" he spoke with a simple elegance before looking into the mirror. "I did try to warn her to behave herself for when she came around."

Crossing the room in the slow crawl that he generally did, Nick stopped a few feet away from Chase whilst Kat shot round to the other side of him in a flash, ready to drill in everything they already had on Leopold Chase.

Leaning in closer by planting one hand firmly on the desk, Nick got in Chase's face. "Cut the B.S, we know it all" Nick lied. True, they might not have had all the facts just yet, but they couldn't let their main suspect know that. If he did then all he would need to do was call B.S himself and the whole case could have fallen apart.

"Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about" he corrected, his facial expressions never wavering away from something that seemed automated.

Kat also narrowed in on Chase, closing in from the other side. Maybe this would be enough of an intimidation tactic to get him into talking. "We know about the scam you had going on" Kat replied. "That you were selling your students out so you could get more funding for Harmond and boost your own career."

"My, she sure is an imaginative one, I'll give her that" he continued towards Nick, trying to play Kat off like she was nothing. If anything it just got her more fired up and ready to go.

"You authorized this on a massive scale Chase. Giving students performing enhancing drugs so that they'd do well. Making sure everyone was tight lipped and kept in the dark about what was going on." That last sentence came with the power that she was hoping it would as Leopold turned to face her. "Danny threatened your entire operation. He was so close to the top and the only thing that could have stopped him spilling the truth was someone getting rid of him."

"Bravo, that's a nice little story you've got going there. Have you ever thought of creative writing classes?"

"Danny had the evidence on you, or at least had enough to put a stop to you." Nick repeated.

There was a short chuckle that escaped Chase as he sat back on his chair. "The boy had nothing on me and neither do you. It's all hearsay from someone who gains to benefit from me being put in jail and someone who can't put down the crack pipe."

"Does it scare you to know that he came so close to busting you and throwing your entire thing you had going into the water?" Nick started. "Or that so many years after you still can't get back to that title that you once held so dear. Danny dying was the best thing that could have happened to your career. Had he spilled the beans then everything would have been over for you."

Those words seemed to hit a sore spot as Chase looked towards Vera with his unfolding eyes. There were still cards left in play and all he had to do was shut his mouth until the last card had been drawn.

Seeing that he was doing at least something to get under his skin, Nick opened the file which he had kept under his arms to this point. Flipping through the various pieces of paper, he looked up for a moment before uttering his own short chuckle. With new found confidence, Vera placed down four slips of paper, all reading like job applications.

"2000, Briarson Academy; 2004 St Peters School for the Academically Gifted; 2007, Killian Academy; 2012, Teller High School" Vera stated in a cool and collected manner as he pushed over each application in succession.

If looks could kill then Nick would have been dead several times over. Chase was so used to playing the games and now he was so close to losing it in front of these detectives who had nothing substantial on him. Taking a deep breath, he remained silent. If he didn't talk then there was nothing they could prosecute him for.

Kat on the other hand was far from done and was ready to dig in the knife. "Must suck for you huh? To know at one point you were looked on as the headmaster to such a prestigious school" Kat leaned in further, just wanting to drive the point home as far as she could. "It must feel humiliating to get knockback, after knockback after knockback. I mean when a public school doesn't want you in charge of their kids then you know something must be wrong."

Swallowing hard, Chase clasped his hands together on the desk before rising his head. "I want my lawyer."

Both Nick and Kat became somewhat aggravated by this. They had gotten so close to getting something out of him and Chase was lawyering up to make sure he kept his big mouth shut. Knowing that there was very little else that either of them could do they both began to take a slow walk out of the room, watching the arrogant smirk that had started the interview reduce to a quivering wreck who seemed to be on the verge of something profound.

* * *

"Something doesn't feel right about this case" Jeffries claimed as he looked through one of the files again, hoping to get a better understanding. "Chase isn't the type of guy to go around shooting people. He's more the type who just watches from the background and gets other people to do his dirty work for him."

Those were the first words that had come from the bullpen in the last five minutes or so. The team were all busy on their phones and computers looking through things that seemed off or strange. It was only when Jeffries spoke up that everyone in the room minus Scotty actually turned round and huddled in closer so as to share their own thoughts or ideas.

"So let's say he got someone else to do it for him… who would Chase have that much leverage over?" Lily spoke. "Would have to be someone that Chase trusted to get the job done."

Hanging up his phone, Scotty closed in to the circle with a notepad in his hand. "I think I might know who" he answered with a smile planted on his face. "So back in '98 there were a lot of pharmacies that stocked Adderall right? So I thought to myself, how do I get a big bunch of these drugs all at once."

"This was back in the late nineties so the internet market for this kind of stuff was stuff fresh" Stillman replied. "Without going into the black market, I doubt there are many ways you can get your hands on mass amounts of that drug."

Pointing at Stillman with his same chirpy smile Scotty upped it a notch. "Right, so I started thinking ways that the pills could be obtained. First thing that came to mind was burglary. Took a look into the files from '98 and surprise to say there were no big hauls of Adderall being stolen. But what if whoever the drugs came from didn't do it in a big haul. Take one or two bottles and it's more of an inconsistency than actual theft."

"Are you saying that whoever the drugs belonged to had been doing this for a while?" Lily spoke, crossing her arms across her chest and getting highly sceptical of the whole thing.

Nodding his head he took a few steps forward. "Yeah actually. I phoned a few places who had reports of inconsistencies in '98 cause Pharmacies have to log this stuff down. Now thanks to the drugs coming from more than one place it made me think that the doer either had more than one job at more than one pharmacy."

"Or he was working as a temp… like a Janitor" Kat but in, already constructing it in her mind.

"Right, so all these Pharmacies were using temps from the same company and a couple of names pop up on a few of them, but only one person worked at all these places" he spoke, handing over the small notepad to Lily.

Looking down, she couldn't believe what she had just read. "Jake Thompson?"

For a moment no one in the room knew what to really say. Stunned silence was not all that common with these cops but right now that was the only thing that summed up how all of this fit together.

"Makes sense if you think about it" Nick spoke up. "Danny wants to go to a prep school but they don't have the money. Principal cuts them a deal after finding out Jake has access to Adderall. For both of them it's a kind of win-win situation."

"Few months down the line Danny catches wind of the whole plot and takes a bullet for everything his brother has done"

Danny gave a casual smirk one more time. "Final nail in the coffin is that a few days after Danny gets shot, Jake quits his job and starts looking elsewhere."

"Guilty conscience, or something to hide?"

* * *

For the longest time Jake had found himself sitting here on the steps of his family home. For the past few hours he had not said a single word or even lifted his face to show his rather grim expression.

With the sirens blaring off in the distance, he readied himself for what was about to come next. It was clear that his sister was worried for him but she had not come out to say such thinking it would probably be for the best if she left Jake on his own. This was just the kind of person that he was; he often did better with his own thoughts than being surrounded by others.

Lifting his head in time to see a cop car pull up, Jake raised himself from the steps and to his feet.

Peeking out the window, Amelia looked round some before spotting the detectives from across the street. Maybe they actually had something about Danny that was worthwhile. Maybe today wouldn't be so shitty and they could actually get to the bottom of who killed her brother. With a sense of urgency, she raced outside of the home only to stop by her brother's side who seemed to be holding back something strong. "Amelia, go back in the house."

Blinking a few times she gave a puzzled expression. "Jake, what's going on…"

Turning to face his little sister he forced a smile to his face as the car doors for the police cruiser closed. "Please Amelia…"

Hearing her brother and his pained tone, Amelia complied partly by taking a few steps back but remaining close enough to hear what the detectives had to say. There was no way that she was going to miss this. Whatever it was had to be important.

Lily took to the first step, just standing there for a moment as Scotty pulled up slightly behind her on the sidewalk. "Fifteen years is a long time to go away for Jake. It's also a long time to stay quiet for…"

The words out of her mouth were grating to the man who was normally composed when the subject of his brother came about. Daring not to say a word at first, he took the few steps down so that only a few feet separated the pair of them. "I know."

"Yeah, you know alright. You know everything that went down that night don't you" Scotty blasted. "You know why Danny wound up dead and you know why you were the one that had to kill him"

Almost in an instant, Amelia bounded down a few steps, standing in front of Jake as if to protect him. It was a lie, it just had to be. Jake loved Danny; he loved both of them. There was just no way in hell that Jake could have even been remotely responsible for what happened to Danny. That last memory she had of Danny seemed to replay over and over in her mind, like a picture perfect moment of clarity.

"Liar!" she screamed, wanting so much to throw her fists. "Jake would never do anything to hurt him"

Grabbing her shoulders and ushering her aside, Jake took the next step down so that she couldn't jump in front of him again. "It's alright Amelia… I need to own up"

"You had a choice Jake. You made the wrong move and got pinned up into a corner…" Lily rattled off. "There was no way out for you that could have ended well. What I want to know is why go after the one person who probably still had faith in you to do what was right?"

Jake sniffed, his face exploding with sadness as he tried to hold back everything that was coming up. "You don't understand detectives." Swallowing hard, he tried to build himself up knowing very well that this was going to be it for him. The only way he could win was by taking the source of all this pain down with him. "If Danny was just a scared kid then I was so much more than that…"

* * *

_It wasn't like Danny to be late for dinner but by the time that Jake had gotten home he had found a note explaining that he was going to be late. Sure it was strange but Danny was a teenager and from the sounds of things he was actually hitting it off with someone, so that in itself could have explained his absence. _

_With Amelia over at a friend's sleepover, Jake found himself alone in their family home, looking over old pictures that hung on the wall. How happy they had all been before and how far they had fallen seemed like such a great distance. _

_For a moment there was silence, sweet blissful silence. That moment became broken when the phone started to ring. Like always, Jake flashed around the home to get to the receiver which was hanging up on the wall. There was a good chance that this was going to be Leopold Chase. It was usually like him to call at this time of night to make sure that shipments were going through okay and that he had enough to keep up with the small demand he required a month._

_Picking up the receiver he pressed it to his ear and listened for a moment. A sense of urgent panic broke out onto his face._

"_Wait, what do you mean he's ont-" … "That can't be possible I keep them hidden away" … "Well what are we going to do about it?" … "Me? Why me? Why do I have to clean up this mess" … "Sir, I can't do that… he's my family" … "No bu-" … "Yes I understand bu-" … "Okay. I'll do it"_

_With that, Jake put the phone back onto the receiver and made his way back into the kitchen, pacing backwards and forwards for a little while trying to figure out what he was going to do about this whole damn mess that had been created. Maybe there was a way that he could talk his brother out of this. Maybe there was some way that he could convince Danny to do the right thing for the sake of him. Cupping his hand to his face he took a clear breath before racing over to the post it notes and quickly scrawling down._

'_Danny, we need to talk. Meet me in the Auditorium.'_

_Pulling it off, he was sure to stick it in a place where Danny was sure to see it eventually, deciding that his bedroom door would have been the most efficient place. Swallowing hard, he then made his way to his bedroom and checked his wardrobe, finding that the bags that had been resting there were now gone. Nodding, he stepped out of the wardrobe and quickly moved to his bedside table to draw out his gun. Never before had he even fired the thing, but right now he needed all the leverage that he could possibly get over Danny._

_Rushing his way downstairs he quickly pulled on his coat and then stepped outside into the brisk autumn weather heading for the school_

* * *

_Honestly, Danny wasn't too sure what to expect when he had first seen that note. The thoughts running through his mind were that maybe Jake wanted to talk him out of blowing this story up. Maybe he was here to help him nail Chase to the wall for what he had done to the students of the school. In any case, Danny didn't think there would be too much danger to meeting his brother in such a public place, even if it was night time._

"_Jake?" Danny called out as he came into the Auditorium. The stage was brightly lit and it was clear that there was someone up there. A shadow paced the stage for a bit and on hearing his name being called, stepped forward a little. "Is that you up there?" Again, the figure remained silent. Perhaps it should have been a warning sign for things to come but Danny didn't want to back down, at least not now._

_Nearing the stage, Danny climbed the eight or so steps that took him to the elevated platform to see that in fact it had been Jake who was pacing around up on the stage. As if not noticing him, Jake continued to pace back and forth, wondering what exactly he could do right now to make this all seem better. _

_For a moment or so, Danny watched in slight confusion. "Jake." In an instant, the manic face on stage stopped and turned to face his younger brother with a beaming smile. There was no smile big enough to save him for what was coming next though. "You alright man? Asking me to meet you here? Pacing the stage? It's just not like you at all."_

_Tapping his foot, he folded his arms across his chest and looked to the side. All Jake could do now was speak and hope that Danny would actually listen to him. "I need you to drop what you're working on Danny, right now." Despite being adamant as all hell it was just plain to see that he had very little confidence in his own words._

_Danny shook his head. "I wish I could Jake…" he began, wrestling his hands together. The question of which side he should go towards was something that had haunted him for the better half of this night and now he was just stuck with a whole load of nothing. The only thing stopping him from fully committing was the fact that if he did he'd send his brother away and break up his family. "What Chase is doing to the people at this school is wrong. He's turning everyone into his own personal guinea pigs just so he can bolster his own reputation. Does that sound right to you? That all these kids are part of his own little plan."_

"_And so what if they are Danny? This is a big world full of big people and the only way to survive is to take the scraps you've been given and roll with it" Jake replied, his tone still shaky but a little more confident. "There's a reason people like Chase stay on top and it's because there's a system."_

"_So why not break the system. Why not bring everything to its knees and actually give a damn about the people involved"_

_Cutting through the air was a clerical silence that lasted only a few seconds before the older boy took a few steps backwards. "As much as we wanna try to break it we can't. The people we love will get hurt in the crossfire and you should know that Danny. You should know that if you go after Chase then I'm just gonna take the collateral damage."_

_Danny didn't speak. Instead he pulled out a bottle of Adderall that he had removed from one of the duffel bags earlier._

_Pointing behind Jake he finally spoke. "You see that Chess Board back there. That's where I managed to see it. To see the effect that this toxic stuff has on the brains of the smart and wonderful. I'm trying to stop that." Moving closer, he clenched tighter on the bottle. "You can help me bring him down. You can actually be someone, a hero to the kids who need it most." _

"_I…. I can't."_

_Frowning, Danny shrugged in disappointment. "Well I'm running the story. I'm going to make sure that everyone knows so you're either with me or against me." Danny turned his back and began to walk away; there was just no point in trying to talk to someone who just clearly was in too much of a tizzy to even care_

_It was then that the true fear ran through Jake. Everything he had worked so hard to gain in the past couple of months seemed to be slowly whittling away from him. He couldn't just let Danny go about and do this. They were family and as family they had to look out for each other. Jake was too young to go to jail for crimes that were above his degree of control. Without hesitation, Jake reached round his back and held the gun out in front of him with both hands, a look of terror building up in him._

"_You can't tell" he whispered to himself as he took a few steps forward. "You can't tell!" Jake spoke louder this time._

_It seemed to work fairly well as Danny paused and turned on his heels. Of course almost instantly he threw his hands up in defence. The last thing he expected was to see his brother with a gun. "Jake… come on man…."_

"_Shut up!" Jake shouted again, his voice bubbling a bit as he held the gun with a little more conviction. "You promise me here and now that you won't tell."_

"_Jake please… I love you but come on." Danny closed in, his hands still raised in defence. "Stuff like this is gonna keep happening until the cycle is broken. We're all gonna fall in if we don't stop him now. I'm doing this for all of us. For you, Amelia, mom and dad."_

_Gritting his teeth as he heard this he spoke once more, this time his voice softer and bubbling more with anger. "Shut up!"_

_Shaking his head, Danny put his hands on the barrel of the gun in hopes that Jake wouldn't pull the trigger if he was this close. "We're family. Family sticks together. Mom and Dad are proud of who we are but you need to do this for yourself. For your own good. There's no use in trying to hide away from everythi-"_

"_I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" The words came out, but they fell short in distance to the loud bang that echoed throughout the auditorium. In a dazed shock, both Danny and Jake shared a look. It didn't take long for Jake to collapse into the ground and for Jake to be stood over him, still quivering with his gun in his hand and the thoughts of shooting his brother still fresh in his head. How much he wanted to say something. How much he wanted to carry him to the hospital. He could have if he wanted too but Jake found the fear of being found out overcoming him each and every time._

_Instead he decided to run. Run as far as he could in hopes that home would be less harsh for his eyes._

* * *

_["My Hero" by "Foo Fighters"]_

Walking forwards towards the cop car, Jake gave a rather wide gulp of breath as Lily trailed slowly behind him, placing the cuffs onto his hands. Without little resistance at all Jake was escorted to the cop cruiser and placed into the backseat, slowly looking back and catching the face of Amelia who seemed to be at a loss for words over the entire thing. A crowd was now gathering to watch the fate of a neighbour that they thought they had known well, the hushed whispers telling the tale of how they truly felt.

Amelia cupped a hand to her face and tried to leap forward, Scotty stepping out in front of her to try and contain her. A job like this was never easy, especially in cases like this.

As the police cruiser rolled off of the property, everyone watched in awe as the young female bounced her fists off of the detective in a mixture of sadness to know it was true and anger that they had taken her family away from her. After a moment, she stopped pounding and broke down to her knees in a desperate plea for this all to be a mistake.

At the police headquarters, cameras and news reporters rolled up to see the tragic fall of a man who was responsible for a young man's death and the drugging of his own students in order to get reputation. Jeffries walking behind him, Leopold Chase looked down to the ground in hopes that none of the cameras would catch his face. It was funny how even now he was only looking out for himself. The crowd that had gathered to see him burn at the stake pretty much included people he knew as well as those with influence.

The most important member of the crowd though was Jasmine Chase who simply looked at her father, clapping all the way. It was nice to know that all this work hadn't been for nothing. If for only a brief moment, a short smile burst onto her face allowing her to soak in the first dregs of freedom that she had seen in a long time. Her dishelved appearance suggested she was still using but these last few days she had managed to be someone that Danny could be proud of.

Meanwhile in the Evidence Room, Kat carried the box carrying Danny's case file and evidence down to the room and placed the box on top of another before taking out a thick black marker and scrawling closed again, just under the position where closed had been crossed out the first time.

With new evidence and the actual murderer being brought to light, Eric took his first steps as a free man only to see a police cruiser off in the distance, Lily and Scotty waiting by its side. Eric looked pale as a sheet and without much fight left in him. He knew what he wanted to do right now and the detectives seemed to be in the mood to give the man at least his dying wish before he went into the afterlife. Shaking the hand of Lily and then Scotty, he made his way into the back of the police cruiser, smiling softly to himself as the car rolled off and onto the road

With Lily and Scotty waiting behind him with a patient firmness, Eric crossed the grounds of the cemetery and closed in on the gravestone that had been marked Danny's. It had certainly been a long time and now that he was here things seemed to be fine for him. As he closed in and went down on bended knee, he felt a warm hand grasp his shoulder. Looking up to see the feminine features of Amelia, she crouched down next to him and both shared a gentle embrace.

When everything had been said and done, both stood up again and almost immediately they spotted a figure in the distance. With a playful smirk on his face he took his hand to his face and gave both of them a two finger salute before walking away, fading into nothing once more. With both of them still beaming, they both let tears come to their eyes as they gave the same salute back.

_**THE END**_


End file.
